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- How To Divide Herbaceous Perennials
How To Divide Herbaceous Perennials
- Why & When To Divide Perennials
- How to Divide Herbaceous Perennials
- Looking After Your Herbeacous Perennials
Herbaceous perennial can become overgrown - so divide them to keep them looking good. Here's how.
By Sacha Markin
Herbaceous perennials come in an eclectic range of shapes, sizes and colours, while some can bloom in spring and summer, others during the autumn months.
Perennials can suit any garden or patio, however big or small, and they are the ideal companion to many other plants including shrubs, roses and evergreens. But, after a few years of planting, herbaceous perennials can start to die out in the middle of the plant and may become overgrown and straggly around the outer edges, so keep your perennials happy by lifting and dividing them - it couldn't be easier.
Why Divide Herbaceous Perennials?
By lifting and dividing a mass of herbaceous perennials, you can rejuvenate the plant and keep it strong and healthy for years. The centre part of the plant, which may be old and deteriorating, can be removed and lots of new perennial plants are easily produced from the parts around the outside of the plant which are still full of life. You can look forward to healthy new buds on the revived sections and, of course, you'll swiftly have more plants on your hands, which you can re-use elsewhere in the garden, offer to neighbours, friends and family, or add to decorative pots, containers or even hanging baskets.
Sometimes it is necessary to lift out and divide perennials when they're just too large and overgrown, spreading further than the area you want covered. Those invasive perennials will be quickly restrained by dividing the plants, which will swiftly prevent them from overpowering any flowers and foliage close by. By splitting down a perennial, you can also significantly increase the plant's resistance to diseases and pests as the plants become healthier and a lot more resilient. Plus, this form of gardening is also incredibly economical - with all those cost-free new plants you can produce!
Herbaceous perennials can have lots of roles in the garden, including being an integral part of many beds and borders alongside trees, shrubs and roses, while carpeting and low-level varieties can work brilliantly as ground cover. And more and more herbaceous perennials are finding their way into containers and even hanging baskets where varieties such as hostas and geraniums are wonderful for bright spring and summer displays.
When To Divide Herbaceous Perennials
As a general rule, perennials that flower in the first half of summer - before late July - are ideally divided from late September and into the autumn months, as this gives them plenty of time to recover from the dividing process. And similarly late-summer or autumn bloomers shouldn't be split until the early spring, which will allow them the time to develop new roots.
Although you may want to, try not to divide your perennials until you really need to. It is best to wait until they are obviously dying out in the centre or if they have simply spread out too far and wide. The most active perennials may need dividing every two years, but some slow spreaders may not need doing for six or even seven years.
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